BREAKING NEWS FROM ROXY HARTE

Today is the last day in 2009 to buy any of the Chronicles of Surrender in ebook at Liquid Silver Books.

I am committing to a contract with a small but very exciting print publisher based in New York and the digital versions of The Chronicles will again be released in 2009 with their print versions available in 2010.

So, although I am sad that my babies are leaving LSB, I am very excited that they are going to have their chance in paperback;)

REAPER

Since my last post...I'm not eating or sleeping...I'm drinking too much caffeine...and I'm WRITING! What am I working on?

Here it is...the much anticipated blurb to my very first paranormal!

Reaper
By Roxy Harte

Kendra Lake has a secret she’s keeping from Detective Jonathon Taylor of NYPD’s Homicide division and he will not rest until he discovers what it is since she has been linked to at least three crime scenes in as many days. But when he discovers who she really is the truth comes with a price tag, die or become one of her kind, a conveyor of souls.

A New Release!

Just wanted to let you know that my short story "Just Climb" has not only been included in an anthology by Ravenous Romance but that it also released LAST NIGHT!

Here's the link to the anthology blurb and an excerpt!

I'm so excited!
Of course in my stories all aspects of life, including sports, involve some form of BDSM element...so if you like rope...get ready to be titillated!

Hope to add more to this post later this evening but today the WIP's are coming first before all other things to do!

This Is A Problem...

So, I think I wrote a few weeks ago that I was writing a short WIP for submission to the Bind Anthology Samhain is acquiring for...

So how's that going? you ask.

Well, let me tell you about it...

I started working on "Freedom" ... and half-way in I had the thought, "Oh! Oh,oh. Oh! I have that little thing tucked away on my harddrive that I could just polish up and be done with it...WIP: Prodigal Slave...yeah, I started polishing and a week later, I'm at 34K." The anthology target is 20k-25k. That means I either have to whittle it back down for the antho...or add 20k to make it a novel. It's back on the backburner...

Meanwhile, last week I pulled another short from the backburner...WIP: Under The Big Top...knowing all it needed was the final scene...a little tie me up and throw knives at me number...the setting is a circus...trust me the scene is very erotic...but the more I imagined and typed...I decided this is never going to work for the anthology and so started turning the work into a quick little something for Liquid Silver Books that would have been an unexpected boon because I've been wanting to try writing something a little different...and this one would be perfect for their Sterling line, which is a little softer, sweeter...and I'm staying on track as far as pacing. The problem is I decided that the main male character should be a werewolf and now my plot is outgrowing my original romance-novel intent, it's sort of morphing into a full-grown urban fantasy. My first thought of a quick 40K "quickie" is now turning into my second thought of, "Oh shit, I doing it again." So this morning I sit with 26k already written and a decision to make...I either have to rein in the plot and turn the spin back toward the softer, sweeter side of erotic for LSB Sterling...or I need to continue on my present course and see what it morphs into because at this point there isn't an erotic bone in its body...I know! How crazy is that?...There's potential for soft erotic...but not yet.

Meanwhile, back on to the anthology, which is supposed to be my prime focus this week. I'm back to square one. Looks like I'm going back to where I left off with Freedom...

Oy vey...

Asleep At The...Keyboard

Last night I took my new baby to bed with me...
I know, it's sad. Very, very sad.

Hubby told me this morning he'd been replaced...



Not very likely...

Fingerprint Login...

I wasn't expecting today to be an especially wonderful day...
It was dreary and snowy, which meant I wanted to sit in front of the computer and write all day; but that seemed pretty selfish, seeing that my hubby was home following a week long business trip and is leaving for another trip on Monday. So when he said, "Lets go prowl around," which means lets go out in the cold and find something to do...I wasn't terribly excited.

He drove straight to BestBuy because he needed another (yes, another) external hard-drive, not because his was broken but because it was getting full...

He bought me a present while he was there :)

A bright and shiny (yes, shiny) laptop!

Of course I had to tell him that my old laptop was perfectly fine (slightly unstable, but fine when the icons aren't blinking...), I had to tell him that I was emotionally attached to my old computer and since it was officially still alive I'd have a hard time separating from it (he promised me we'd find it a good home), and then I had to explain my buyers pre-morse (I don't wait until I buy something to regret it...I regret it before I ever pull out my debit card...I save a ton of money that way and hardly ever actually swipe my card for anything.)

He said it was a present...

Saying no to a present would be wrong, right?

I am so excited now that it is out of the box...

• It's shiny (I know, I said that all ready) I think the color is platinum, he says gun-metal...it's beautiful...
• It has a finger-print security scanner (I know, I was like, "Why do I need that? It's not like I'll ever use it. Wrong! Do you know how many sites need log-ins and passwords? And how much time it takes to type that info in over and over again? Well no more. I slide my fingerprint and go! How awesome is that?)
• It has a lighted key board. (Seriously, this computer was made with me in mind. I write in the dark every night. I swear it's making me blind. A lighted keyboard is a miracle.)
• It's the perfect size. 13" screen. I can take this baby everywhere.

Of course, I've already broken it in. Two thousand words on the latest WIP!

Did I say that I am very excited?

I have the best honey-bunny ever...it isn't even my birthday...he is sooooooooooooo getting an unforgettable night tonight. *wink*

We Interupt The Previously Scheduled Post...

Okay, I know, I know, you're here to find out Lord Fyre's favorite color, or Kitten's birthday, or Garrett's darkest secret...

Hold that thought...

Today...okay, every day at some point...Xandra Gregory and I chat...phone, text, something...mostly hours of phonage...AT&T hates us cause we both have the talk forever plan...lately we've talked about how I can somehow bring Lewd Larry's to life for my fans...and we've talked about her gay-pirate book which will soon be coming from Liquid Silver Books...

Actually we talk about gay boys alot...
We're both absolutely enthralled with gay boys...
For me it's a way of imagining my inner boi as a grown-up...I have no idea what her excuse is...

Anyway...
Tonight she sent me this video and I loved it so much...I'm now sharing it with you by embedding the youtube video...if you want a higher standard of quality go to the Tomboy Site...Hell, go to the Tomboy site anyway. He has a great personal message there...

I'm buying the album so I can sing the It's Okay To Be Gay Song every day...it will give me a reason to dance with my purple boa...


Actually, if you added a few whips and chains to that video...it would be pretty close to a Lewd Larry's moment...

And I don't know if anyone noticed the gay pirate besides me...and probably Xandra...so hot...I' just saying.

And BTW, I need a fedora...just in case you want to buy me something for my birthday.
And make-up pointers...

Chronicles of Surrender Celebration Week...Continues

The question for YOU...
Who is my favorite character to write?

A question from ME: Why the hard questions? These are almost impossible to answer!

Okay...I love Jackie...I dream of the day she gets her own story:)
Haven't met Jackie yet? She makes appearances in all three Chronicles of Surrender as Garrett's MtoF transgendered best friend. Imagine 6'6" Cocoa-skinned, loud, opinionated, hormonal, clothing fetish, shoe fetish, wig fetish...in love with Garrett, in hate with Lord Fyre, who has a poodle-boy as a pet and an entourage of a dozen or more flaming gay men...did I mention a career?...I don't know that she has one other than being a personality...like Paris Hilton except with an adam's apple and a bigger cup size...

* * *

I've also been dwelling on yesterday's question...
I think each book had a favorite moment in a scene:

Remember when Garrett bought Celia at auction?

Or when he introduced her to the idea of pretending to be a cat?

Remember when Lord Fyre caught Celia using the cell phone without permission?

Or when he stayed on the phone talking to Celia while she fell asleep?

Chronicles of Surrender Celebration Week...

I asked you, my FABULOUS READERS, to ask questions about the series...and I now have answers...but you will have to come back every day...to keep up!

Question number one:

What is your favorite scene from Sacred Revelations?

Oh! I have to choose? I really can't narrow it down to one...but I can whittle it down to a few:

the shibari scene on the rocky beach during the thunder storm or the very muddy sex scene on the soccer field...

A scene comes to mind from Sacred Revelations though...the orgy. I really wanted to be at THAT party!

And this photo was the inspiration for Jackie's Marie Antoinette Masque

Valentine's Day Flu...

So both hubby and teen daughter went to bed Friday the thirteen feeling awful...I bought Nyquil for them and homeopathy "keep from getting sick" tabs for me...I woke up Valentine's day feeling fine...they woke up feeling worse than when they went to bed...

I have to say, my honey bunny made the best of a bad situation...

We went to see Push...with Dakota Fanning.

I loved it, can't wait for the sequel...and there will be a sequel...right?

We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch which wasn't so great but then it might have been that he was feeling worse and I wasn't feeling wonderful...
The bottle of Italian red table wine and tiramisu was the best part of the meal...

Before going home we stopped at the bookstore to get me a book...because I knew he would be taking Nyquil and going back to bed...and I'm a night owl anyway...plus it was still hours til dark...

I wanted to get Silk by Caitlin Kiernan...and I'd seen earlier in the week that they actually had it in stock...I should have gotten it then...because they were sold out.

I ended up getting a book called Sunshine by Robin McKinley and stayed up all night reading it...even though I swore off vampire books months ago...I am sooooo over vampires....and honestly, somewhere in the first twenty pages I was like, "Really?" ... "This is all you've got?" but I kept trudging through (even though it was honestly exceptionally well written...crafted...reminding me of the long luxurious build-up employed by Stephen King)...page twenty-one, twenty-two, because Neil Gaiman said in a quote on the front cover, "Pretty much perfect."...and in my world, an endorsement from Neil is like gospel...after all, he turned me onto Caitlin Kiernan. On page twenty-eight Robin McKinley got my attention...

So what happened on page twenty-eight?
A single sentence from a master vampire, Constantine, described as, "thin, thin to emanciated, the cheekbones and ribs looking like they were about to split the old-mushroom skin..." who was being kept in chains by another master vampire.

"Speak," he said at last. "Remind me that you are a rational creature."

By then I had figured out the heroine was to be dinner...and Constantine was trying to find a single reason not to eat her...which meant I had to find a reason to like her...

I started the book over right then and there without going any further and reread the first twenty-eight pages with fresh eyes, understanding that those twenty-eight pages were establishing Rae's humanity...

Page twenty-eight established a reason to not hate the vampire...he wasn't human...but he wasn't a bad guy...

It's a skill...drawing out the story...weaving magic with words...I have a new appreciation for an author i hadn't read before...

I've been told by agents and beta readers that I need to draw out the "clues"...
But I learned early on that the first five pages get you out of the slush pile...so pacing isn't my strong point...relaxing enough to really enjoy a finely crafted story isn't either...I really like it when I do though...

Falling in love with an author...
Is there a better way to spend Valentine's day?

So, Happy Valentine's Day

And since I can't send you chocolates...

I hope you'll be happy with some eyecandy;)

Hmmmm...
Not good enough?
maybe this ones more to your liking...

I absolutely love his eyes...mmmm yummy...

I hope you enjoy your day!

You Give Massage?

Happy Friday the Thirteenth! I'm celebrating by dragging my hubby to a movie...

It will keep my mind off my new phone stalker...
It started out innocent enough on Monday when a guy called and asked, "You give massage?"

He sounded Asian...
I said, "No, you have a wrong number."

Okay, so yes, I used to have a Reiki studio (listed under massage) and every once in awhile I get THAT phone call...you know the one... heavy breathing...

Or on occasion the lonely guy who wants more than a massage...
And rarely, the guy who really is just looking for a massage...

Four days and many phone calls later, I decide we are not having a language issue because he is Asian...but AN ISSUE...because he will not leave me alone and will not take no for an answer...

On Monday, I would have said a very hot sounding, very young guy called and made me laugh...
Tuesday and Wednesday I pressed IGNORE on my phone...
Thursday, I answered...established that he is a horny young man...he said that I sounded HOT...so hot that he was sure I could help him out with his problem...that I should meet him somewhere. I told him in no uncertain terms to stop calling me...

He called back this afternoon!
Seriously!

So now, I have a phone stalker...yep, he's calling every few minutes...and I'm hitting IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE

Welcome to my life...

Define Friend...

I thought I knew what a friend was...
Then today I found out how good a friend I really have...

Xandra Gregory, critique partner extraordinaire, called me from the Pure Romance Warehouse and said the magic words to any woman, "BIG SALE, you gotta be here now!"

I said, "I have grandbabies today...followed by a few expletives...because I would have loved to have been at that warehouse sale! Even though I was having a wonderful time watching IGOR with the babies (and watching them ride their brand new training wheels included big girl bikes that I got them for their birthdays (age 3 and 5) inside the house)...

She said, "Get online and shop with me..."
Okay...

So item by item that she passed by, I pulled up online so that I could enjoy the full sex-toy big-sale experience...

First up the Valentines Day Specials:
Who needs Diamonds ... Of course the main conversation revolved around the $36.00 savings...the "too adorable for words bling collar" ... ridges ... and length. Also important were if all the extras...toy cleaner, creams and et caeteras were "regular size" or "smaller size" ... I was surprised, they were regular size ... and I was almost drooling that I wasn't there with her because it did indeed seem a shopping savings that could not be passed up...but then all of the Valentine's Day Packages were attractive... I'm still not sure about the orange g-spot stimulator that online looks like an alien but ...

She hurried off to novelty items before I could get too involved in alien sex talks...
And was impressed that there were so many vanilla-ish bdsm toys...ticklers and teasers, feather dusters and fuzzy handcuffs...oh my, that does give me an idea for a new book...

Edible undies?
A bed of roses?
A stripper pole?
A sex sling?

I nodded and smiled, got distracted by IGOR's creation singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow"...

But then I went with her (virtually)to the vibrators with clitoral stimulator's table ... and I knew I was in trouble ...
I love the Humdbelievable (I broke mine...bummer)
I like the Cowboy-Up but not so much that it's irreplaceable...
So I might be in the market of a new toy...so through Xandra's excellent descriptions I "comparison shop" everything on the table...
Her side of the conversation went something like, "Oooo, this one has bigger beads...no texture...lot's of texture...wow, this one's big!"
I asked, "How big?"
Her: "Really big."
Me: "Length or girth?"
Her: "Length."
Hmmm...
Me: "Compared to Cowboy Up, longer or shorter?"
Her: "Definitely longer. Wait, I'll hold them up side by side...oh wow...about an inch and a half longer."
Really...
Me: "Is it slick like Cowboy Up or ridged like Humbelievable?"
Her: "Oh ridged, definitely ridged...more than Humbelievable."
Insert expletives here because I am not there with my Mastercard...
Her: "Do you want it?"
Me: "Yeah! Maybe I can get there tomorrow...is the sale on tomorrow?"
Her: "Or I can throw it in my basket and you can pay me later."

That dear readers is a truer than true friend...

Meet my new friend Tom...Described online as:
T.O.M.
Looking for a whole new meaning to multiple orgasms? Meet T.O.M., our triple orgasm machine! T.O.M.’s intense multi-speed and function clitoral stimulator, multi-functional rotating and thrusting shaft, and waterproof design is sure to fly you to new orgasmic heights! A must have!

Of course I haven't met Tom yet, but I have a feeling we're going to really like each other...

And as for Xandra? She's the most awesomest friend a girl could have!

High Wind Advisory...

What is up with Ohio and 70mph winds? OMG! Have you ever tried to walk 2 miles in pouring rain and 70mph winds? IT'S A BLAST! I know, who knew?

My daughter and I were on a 2 mi walking path when the storm hit full force...about 1/4 mile in...and we could turn around, or keeping going...we kept walking! Talk about resistence training! We were laughing so hard we were in tears and so soaked through that water was dripping off the tips of our noses...

And of course, thousands are again without power in Ohio (we're hanging in there at our house) but we did have to mount a search and rescue for our recycle bins and trash cans...ahem...we found them in the far side of the back forty...

Tomorrow will tell us if our roof made it through...

Stress and Drama...

The bane of a writer's career is stress and drama...give me one good life crisis hour and I won't be able to write for days...

Without going into details...last night sucked ass...actually I'm going on 39 hours without sleep because there just hasn't been time for that...and I haven't had a clear thought since the high stress/high drama moment. Which REALLY pisses me off because I am so close to finishing not one but two WIP's I was actually counting down the days until I could submit them and cross them off my list...

Sigh.
Curse.

I'm waiting for the rebound, which is usually good...but right now I'm moping around because I just can't get my mojo flowing. Does anyone else have this problem?

Obama's Recovery Conference

Was anyone besides me glued to the television last night? If you missed President Obama's press conference...you owe it to yourself to watch the video...

Guest Blogging Today!

I have been invited to blog at The Erotic Muses today! How exciting! I hope you will stop by and say hello!! ...Okay, I'll bribe you...I posted an excerpt! (An excerpt with an ORGASM!) So hurry...go now! Do not miss the excitement:)

Woot! I Love Acceptance Letters!

This weekend just became better! Very late last night (early this morning?) I opened my email to find an acceptance letter from my new Loose-Id editor for the sequel to Voyeur! So tomorrow I will be printing the contract for EDGE and sticking it in the mail Monday...

Then the really fun part begins...filling out the blurb forms and art request forms...
Over the next few months my "baby" will get a "face"...I always look forward to what the cover artists come up with...and honestly the cover for VOYEUR was so perfect...it will be hard to top with EDGE...but I am really excited to see what they do!

Of course then the other work begins...line edits and small changes that make my story even better...what fun!

And through all of this...
I'm still writing!

Actually writing with even more intensity because there is nothing more motivating than knowing I have a new book coming out...

So all my back burners need to be ready for the heat to be turned up...and actually I'd kind of forgotten what all I do have on a back burner...

My main focus is the submission for the Bind Anthology: Prodigal Slave...damn, I hope this one gets accepted because it is probably in my mind the hottest, most emotional book I've ever written... but maybe it's just my emotion and I won't know that until someone else reads it... all I know is that my beta readers and critique partner were wowed...

Then there are the backburners...oy vey...too many to think about but all hopefully good enough to find future homes...

Do You Have Questions?

I hope you enjoyed a look at what I am working on now from the post: Where is Kitten?

I am hoping to start a dialogue over the week of February 14-20th with questions from fans of the series: Want to know Garrett's birth sign? Or Lord Fyre's? Want to know what is going on with Fyre's wife Latisha (who was last seen in the middle of a desert giving birth)? Let me know in the comment section what YOU want to know and I will answer as many questions as I can! Hopefully with some excerpts from FUTURE books in the series;)

Have no idea what I am talking about? Get caught up by reading the Series The Chronicles of Surrender:
Book I: Sacred Secrets
Book II: Sacred Revelations
Book III: Unholy Promises

And coming as soon as I can finish writing it...the stand alone story that follows George and Gigi:
Book IV: Vow of Silence

Blogging today at SExPressions...

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